Where Do I Go From Here
by Onetreehillfan1988
Summary: Rewritten version of my original fic. Lucas finds out he has a twin sister. Give it a chance, it's much better than the original. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1: A Thousand Words

Where Do I Go From Here?

Summary: This is a rewritten version of my original fic. Even if you've read the original please give this a chance. It's quite a bit different and I think you'll enjoy it. I decided to rewrite it because although I was pleased with the responses I got from the original WDIGFH and it's sequel, my writing skills have greatly improved and I believe I can do a better job with the story this time around. Also, I never finished the sequel, Where We Got To and back then I had a lot of people who wanted to read the end of it. So this time around I will definitely finish it although it will be quite a bit different from the original. Instead of jumping ahead to the next generation of kids I will make the four-year jump like the show, then if I get a good response from it I will write a new future fic.

Rating: Most stuff in here will be T but I'm officially making it M just in case.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill, just any original characters that appear.

Author's Note: The main character of the original story, Jaime, will have a new name in this. I wrote the original fic before season four ended and I had no idea that Nathan and Haley would name their son Jamie. I'm changing the main character's name just to avoid confusion for those who didn't read the original.

Chapter 1: A Thousand Words

Lucas Scott sighed with frustration as he watched the woman of his dreams walk away from him, arm in arm with his best friend and sister-in-law Haley James Scott. Ever since Brooke had returned from her summer in California Lucas had been trying to get her to go out with him on an exclusive basis. So far all he had managed was a strange non-exclusive relationship that left him feeling more confused by the day. A few months before when he had professed his love to her he had been convinced that when she returned home she would want to take him back. Instead he was faced with a sight of the old Brooke, one who didn't care, and he was one hundred percent sure that it was an act.

"Kinda weird seeing them together like that huh?"

Lucas turned and smiled at his close friend Peyton Sawyer. Before the summer he had been worried about his friendship with Peyton, realizing almost too late that they were drifting apart but the last three months had done nothing but bring them closer together. Unfortunately Peyton was not as accepting of Haley's return from her musical tour and had yet to forgive her. This was causing tension between their group of friends including between Brooke and Peyton, who were best friends in a way that almost redefined the word. Lucas' half brother Nathan, who had married Haley at sixteen, was also not very happy about the young musician's return to Tree Hill. Even though he had admitted that there might still be hope for their marriage he was acting cold towards Haley much to Lucas' dismay.

"I'm just glad she's got someone other than me" was the response Peyton got. The surly tone of her friend's voice made her cringe and she looked up at him with an apologetic face.

"Sorry Luke. I'm trying okay?"

"I know Peyton." Lucas replied as he put his arm around her shoulders. "I just wish everything wasn't so messed up around here. And I thought last year was bad."

Peyton laughed and rolled her eyes. "Senior year huh? I don't even want to think of all the shit that could happen."

Later that day Karen Roe groaned in frustration as she saw a black SUV pull into a parking space outside of her café. The place was busy enough during lunchtime without her having to deal with Dan Scott. For having abandoned her and her son for all of sixteen years it amazed her at how often he stuck his nose in her business.

"Hi Karen." Dan said in a sickly sweet voice. Karen hated how he talked to her, like they were actually good friends despite all the pain he had put her through. The most recent of which was having her boyfriend Andy deported back to New Zealand. Even though she and Andy had ended their relationship due to differing opinions on children she wasn't ready to forgive Dan for purposely hurting her.

"What do you want Dan? In case you can't tell I'm busy."

"I just wanted to welcome you back from your trip."

Karen turned her back on him to place a stack of freshly cleaned trays under the counter. She couldn't help thinking how enjoyable it would be to crack Dan over the head with one of them. Instead she would have to settle with throwing him out of her restaurant.

"Look Dan I'm not in the mood for your games. I think it's time for you to leave."

Faking a hurt expression Dan leaned against the front counter nonchalantly and said in a quieter voice, "Come on Karen, let me make it up to you."

"She told you to leave" an angry voice said from behind him. Dan turned and saw his oldest son glaring at him threateningly. Lucas' face staring at him from amid the swirl of flames in the dealership fire flashed through Dan's mind and he had to resist the urge to take a swing at the teenager in front of him.

"Shouldn't you be in school Lucas?"

"Seniors are allowed off campus for lunch." Lucas replied in a flat voice. "Now get out."

As much as he wanted to call his son out as the one who tried to murder him Dan merely frowned and walked out of the café.

"Are you okay Mom?" Lucas asked as he sat down on a stool. As the days passed by he was beginning to regret running into Scott Motors to pull his no-good father out of harms way.

"I'm fine. What can I get you for lunch?"

"A turkey sandwich sounds good."

Lucas held back a sigh as his mother disappeared into the kitchen to make his lunch. As much as she pretended to be fine he could tell that she was still hurting from her breakup with Andy. Although he understood the reasons behind it Lucas couldn't help but wish they had stayed together. He really liked Andy and he knew that the man truly loved his mother. Andy had even helped Lucas try to bring Dan down to protect Karen and everyone else. Even though Keith would always be the dominant father figure in his life he had begun to develop a paternal bond with Andy and he regretted that he would no longer have that.

"Here you go." Karen said cheerfully as she returned. A part of her had enjoyed watching Lucas stand up to Dan like that. It made her feel better knowing that her son was capable of taking care of himself.

"Thanks Mom" Lucas mumbled, his mouth full of turkey and mayonnaise. The two of them chatted about the new school year and what it might bring while Lucas ate. When it was time to return to school Lucas gave his mother a quick hug and headed out, holding the door for a girl who looked to be about the same age as him. She smiled and muttered a quick thanks before heading inside. As Lucas hopped on his bike and rode towards the high school he couldn't help wondering if he had seen that girl somewhere before. She looked sort of familiar but he couldn't think of where he had seen her before.

Meanwhile inside the café Karen smiled at the young woman standing at the counter. The girl looked up at her with eyes that she had seen before. In fact she had seen them only moments ago. Her heart began to pound as she took in the girl's appearance. Her hair was short, a few shades lighter brown than Karen's. She was tall, five ten by Karen's guess and lean like Lucas. She wore no makeup and had on baggy jeans and a t-shirt of a band Karen had never heard of. But it was the eyes that had Karen in shock. They were identical to her son's and the realization that came with that thought made feel faint.

"Jessica" she whispered.

**A/N:** That's it for the first chapter. As a sidenote, the title of the chapter is a song by Savage Garden. Please review and let me know what you thought of it. I should have the second chapter done soon.


	2. Chapter 2: Miles Apart

Author's Note: I will try my best to keep in canon with the show but it's been a long time since I've seen season 3 so if I make mistakes I apologize.

Chapter 2: Miles Apart

Lucas said goodbye to Peyton and got out of her car. His confrontation with Dan was still running through his mind. It would be a long time before he forgot the feeling of his father's hands wrapped around his neck, squeezing the life of him. As he watched Peyton drive away he felt another wave of gratitude towards her. As much as he hadn't wanted anyone else to know that he had saved Dan from burning to death when someone had set fire to the car dealership he knew that she had had no choice but to tell Dan the truth. Lucas smiled as he realized that he owed Peyton his life. If she had not been there he probably would have chosen to be strangled rather than admit to Dan that he had risked his life for the man.

_What a way to kick off the new school year_ he thought with a smile. However he sincerely hoped that the events of the day were not an indication of what the rest of year would be like. Junior year had been almost insane with the drama and Lucas wasn't looking forward to another year of dealing with it.

When he got inside he locked his door and went to see if his mom was home. One nice thing about the first day of the school year was that he had almost no homework. The one chapter he'd been assigned to read for his advanced literature class had been taken care of in study hall so he had the rest of the night to relax.

"Hey Mom are you home?" he called as he headed to the kitchen. He was met with the sight of his mother sitting at the table crying. She had an untouched cup of coffee in her hand that had long gone cold and a small pile of used tissues lay on the table in front of her. "Mom what's wrong?" Lucas asked. He hurried over to her side and put a hand on her shoulder.

Karen jumped and looked up, just then realizing she wasn't alone. "Lucas…" she said in a soft voice that was a little scratchy from all the crying she had done.

"What is it Mom?" Lucas asked again, getting more worried by the minute. For a brief moment he considered the possibility that Dan had told her about the fire. That was something that would surely upset his mother, given the number of times she had already worried about his safety.

"Luke will you sit down? There's something I need to tell you."

With a wary expression Lucas sat across from his mother and waited for her to speak. He hadn't seen her this upset since the day she told him that Dan was his father. Karen cleared her throat and absentmindedly sipped at her cold coffee.

"What I'm about to tell you is going to be difficult to hear and I'll understand if you're upset but all I ask is that you keep an open mind and let me explain before you get mad.

Now Lucas was definitely worried. "Um, okay."

"There's something that I've kept secret from you. Something I should have told you about a long time ago. You see, when I was six months pregnant I found out that I was carrying twins."

Lucas stared at him mother in disbelief. Of all the possibilities running through his head, that had not been one of them.

"Mom… what happened? Did you lose one of the babies or something? I don't get it."

Karen shook with another sob and wiped her eyes with a tissue. Her heart was racing and she felt once again like she might faint. Never before had she been so terrified of what her son would think of her. He had forgiven her for hiding the fact that Dan had wanted joint custody of him but this was bigger. This secret was one she wasn't sure he would be able to accept.

"I didn't lose the other baby. I… I gave her up for adoption."

Lucas watched his mother cry as this revelation sank in. He stared at Karen in shock, looking for some sign that this was all a big joke, that she was just yanking his chain but all he saw in her eyes was sadness and regret.

"How… how could you keep this from me?" he asked after sitting in silence for nearly five minutes. "All my life I've had a sister out there somewhere and you're just now telling me?" His voiced was laced with hurt and anger. This was a betrayal that he had never imagined his mother was capable of. He understood the things she had kept secret involving Dan. Those had been hidden to keep him safe but this was different. This was something he had had a right to know a long time ago.

"Lucas please try to understand. I was just out of high school, I was broke, and I didn't know what to do."

"So you just gave one of your kids away?" Lucas snapped back, his voice rising. "How could you just choose one of us to get rid of?" Karen began to sob again and this made Lucas regret his anger a little. After all he had agreed to let her explain before he got mad. "I'm sorry. I just don't understand."

"It was complicated" Karen said while mopping her eyes. "I was young and scared and I did the best I could with what I had. I knew there was no way I could raise two kids on my own and provide them with a good life. I thought that giving your sister up would not only provide her with a good life but also allow me to make yours better than it would have been. Believe me Lucas, not a day goes by that I don't wish I had kept your sister and tried to raise you both. Back then, as hard as it was to give her up I really thought I was doing the best thing."

Lucas nodded and took in deep breath, exhaling slowly. In a way he could understand how scared his mother must have been. The pregnancy scare with Brooke had taught him how scary the prospect of being a teenage parent was. He couldn't imagine how terrifying it must have been for his mom.

"I guess I can understand why you did what you did. Dan left you to raise his kids on your own. But what I don't understand is why you never told me. I'm almost eighteen and I'm just now finding out."

Another wave of regret swept over Karen and she choked back a sob. Lucas was taking it better than she had expected but it was still incredibly hard to sit there and see the betrayed look in his eyes.

"_Jessica?" Karen asked in a voice that was barely audible._

"_Yeah" the girl said slowly. "Are you Karen Roe?"_

_Karen nodded as her heart pounded ever faster in her chest. This was a moment she had been afraid of for nearly eighteen years and here she was, her daughter, showing up out of the blue with no advance warning._

"_So you're… my biological mom?"_

_Karen's knees began to shake as she nodded once again. She seemed to have lost her ability to speak and she soon found herself having to lean against the counter for support._

"_Why are you… I mean how… how did you find me?"_

_Jessica Bradshaw shrugged and dropped her gaze to the floor, her cheeks blushing from embarrassment. This introduction wasn't going the way she had planned. After mentally preparing herself on the drive all the way from Ohio she was standing there unable to say more than a few words at a time._

"_Um… I got your name from… the um… the adoption agency… and I looked your name up… you know like online… and this café came up so… I kinda figured you must own it."_

"_Well, why are you here? I mean do your parents know you're here?" Karen asked frantically. She was quickly shifting from stunned to panicked. There she was, her long lost daughter standing right in front of her and Karen didn't have a clue what to do or say._

"_Yeah they um… well my dad told me I could come. I'm sorry I didn't call first."_

"_No, it's okay." Karen gasped out. "Why don't we sit down at a table?"_

"Mom?" Lucas asked. Karen's head snapped up and she shook her head in confusion.

"I'm sorry sweetie what did you say?"

"I asked why you suddenly decided to tell me after all these years."

"Because your sister wants to move to Tree Hill. She wants to get to know us."

Lucas nodded, unsure of how he felt about that. On one hand it was too much to take in at once but on the other hand he kind of liked the idea. The thing throughout all of this was the regret of never knowing his twin sister. It was hard to accept that there was a girl out there, his own flesh and blood, that he had grown up never knowing existed.

"Is she moving down here with her family or what?"

Karen shook her head. "No not exactly. If it's okay with you, and I'll understand if you say no, she'll live with us."

The broody teen pondered this for a while. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Again he thought that it was all too much to take in at once but he also wondered about why this girl would want to leave her life and move in with them, people that she may be related to but didn't know at all.

"Why does she want to leave her family and live with us?" he asked, voicing his concerns. Karen sighed and blew her nose before answering. She was extremely proud of her son for taking the time to think this through before deciding and she was also glad that he didn't seem immediately opposed to the idea of getting to know his sister.

"Lucas I'm afraid that it's not my place to tell you that. It's something your sister will have to choose to tell you on her own."

"So what's her name?"

"Jessica Bradshaw. When I chose adoption your uncle Keith got in touch with an adoption agency and they found a family looking for a baby girl."

"So you didn't choose between us?" Lucas asked. Karen shook her head and Lucas felt relieved. He had been struggling with the idea that his mom had chosen to give his sister away instead of him but he now realized that it wasn't something she would have been able to do. "Well… I guess it's okay with me. Now that I know about her I want to get to know her. I mean it's all still a big shock but I think if I said no to this I would regret it later."

Karen stood up and hugged her son. Lucas stood up and wrapped his arms around his mother, wanting her to know that although he still felt betrayed by her keeping his sister a secret, he was going to deal with it and would forgive her.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of it. I'm always open to constructive criticism. The chapter's title is a song by Yellowcard.


	3. Chapter 3: Shades of Gray

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own One Tree Hill. If I did all the Breyton fans out there would be extremely happy with the way I took the show.

Chapter 3: Shades of Gray

Silence filled the air. Everyone was staring at Lucas in shock. He had invited everyone out to the rivercourt to tell them the news. It felt awkward to stand there and tell all of his friends that he had a twin sister who was moving to Tree Hill the next day but Lucas felt it would be better to just tell them all right away. Nathan was the first to speak, which Lucas had expected seeing as how this newcomer was related to him too.

"Wow. I can't believe Dan never told me. You'd think this would be something he'd want to use to his advantage."

Lucas chewed on his bottom lip as he considered how to respond to that. He wasn't sure how Nathan would react. "Well Nate Dan doesn't exactly know."

This statement surprised everyone. Nathan shook his head in confusion and stood up off the bleachers.

"What do you mean he doesn't know? Karen never told him she had twins?"

"Apparently not. I mean he just took off and by the time he came back the whole adoption thing was done and over with."

"But don't you think he had a right to know that he had another kid?"

Lucas forced himself not to get angry at his brother. From an outside perspective it would be logical to think Dan had a right to know but nothing involving Dan Scott was logical. Luke fully supported his mother's decision to avoid revealing the existence of his twin sister. If it were up to him Dan would never find out about her.

"Look Nathan it's complicated okay? Giving a kid up for adoption was probably the hardest thing my mom has ever had to do and if she had gone to Dan and told him he would have just made her life more miserable."

Nathan wasn't sure if he was willing to accept that explanation but he decided to stay out of it. Most days he didn't even like to claim that Dan was his father and he had to admit that Dan would have been a complete ass about the whole situation, more so that he already had been.

The others sat in silence unsure of what to say. Wanting to show Lucas that they weren't all freaked out by the news, Peyton said, "Luke you know she's welcome here with us. It's just going to take us time to get used to the fact that you have a sister."

"No shit" Nathan muttered.

Knowing Lucas better than just about anyone, Haley could tell that her best friend was still trying to deal with it himself. She also wondered about how Lucas had taken the news. She imagined that if her parents sprung a new sibling on her like that she would be furious with them. As the group began to chat she pulled Lucas aside and asked him if he was doing okay.

"I don't know Hales" he replied with a shrug. "I can't believe it's even possible but it is and she's coming so I guess I'm going to have to get used to it."

Across town at the cheapest motel in town, Jessica 'Jessi' Bradshaw was sitting on the sidewalk looking at the bridge leading out of town. Part of her was tempted to get in her car and take that bridge back north to her hometown. Meeting this new family, going to a new school, and basically starting her life over was daunting and she wasn't sure if she could handle it.

_I'm being stupid. This whole thing was my idea. Besides whatever is here can't be worse than what I would have to face if I went home_, she thought as a cool breeze blew, ruffling her short hair. _Besides, I've never seen the ocean before. I should do that before it gets dark_.

The summer breeze continued much to Jessi's delight. Being from Ohio it was going to take her a while to get used to the warmer weather. Getting up she went to the motel office and got directions to the beach and then drove there, stopping at Subway for dinner on the way. When she got to the beach she got out of her car and stared at the ocean. It was unlike anything she had ever seen. Picking a secluded spot she tossed down a blanket and ate her dinner while watching the small waves crashing against the shore.

The next day Lucas and Karen sat on their front porch awaiting the arrival of the new member of their household. Lucas was nervous yet calm but Karen was close to panicking. She continuously checked her watch and muttered things like, "What if she got lost?" and "What if she changed her mind?" Eventually Lucas put a hand on his mother's shoulder and reassured her that everything was going to be fine.

When a red Pontiac Bonneville pulled up in front of the house Karen jumped up and went to stand at the top of the steps. Jessi got out of the car and slowly walked up to them with a nervous smile on her face.

"Hi," she said softly. Karen was unsure of what to say but Lucas broke the awkward silence by stepping off the porch and offering his hand.

"Lucas. I guess I'm your twin brother."

"Jessica" the nervous teen replied, shaking her brother's hand. "But you can call me Jessi."

"Okay Jessi. Do you want to come inside and see the house?"

As she watched her children enter the house Karen felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Her biggest fear had been that Jessi and Lucas wouldn't like each other but within minutes of meeting they seemed to be getting along fairly well. When she entered the house she could hear their conversation.

"…and this is the bathroom. The only one unfortunately." Lucas said with a laugh.

"That's okay. I'm a total guy when it comes to getting ready for school. I roll out of bed, shower, throw on some clothes and leave."

"So you don't spend like half an hour putting on makeup?" Lucas asked, laughing again. His thoughts turned to Brooke, the fashion queen of Tree Hill.

"God no. I usually don't wear makeup except at like formal events."

"Can't say I blame you. Well this is your room. You can fix it up however you like."

Jessi walked into her new bedroom and looked around. The walls were bare but that was easily fixed. "Nice. It's got potential."

After the tour was finished Lucas helped his sister bring in her stuff. As she hefted the final box out of the trunk she turned to Lucas and jokingly said, "It's kinda sad that I can carry everything I own in my car."

"Nothing wrong with traveling light." Lucas replied with a smile. All of his worries were gone. Talking to Jessi was much easier than he thought it would be. He wasn't sure if it had something to do with them being twins but he got the sense that they were going to get along great.

By the time Jessi had her stuff unpacked Karen had lunch ready and the three of them sat down for their first meal as a family. During the meal they all made small talk but an air of awkwardness fell upon them and after a while the house grew quiet. Then, taking the initiative once again, Lucas brought up the topic of cars.

"What year is your Bonneville? 91?"

"90." Jessi replied after taking a drink of water.

"How's it run?"

"Pretty good for as old as it is. It wasn't in the best shape when we bought it but my dad and I fixed it up."

"Do you know a lot about cars?" Lucas asked suddenly twice as interested in the conversation. That was a topic that he could discuss endlessly thanks to Keith.

"I know some stuff. I'm no expert but I'm definitely not one of those girls who gets stuck waiting on someone to change their tire for them."

Karen smiled as the two launched into a discussion about different types of cars. Their first meeting was going better than she ever could have imagined. There was still an obvious level of awkwardness but that was to be expected and was sure to dissipate quickly.

After lunch Lucas and Jessi started walking around town. While they walked and Jessi got to know her new town they swapped stories. Neither went into too much detail but Lucas went over quite a bit of the local drama as well as the situation with Dan. In return he learned that Jessi had grown up in a city about twice the size of Tree Hill, then at thirteen moved to a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere, then after a few years moved back to the city. They also discussed their interests in music, literature and basketball. Jessi had never played on a team but she enjoyed shooting hoops now and then. Then they got back to Dan.

"Well I don't really know what to think about it. I mean it does seem kind of wrong to hide the fact that he has another kid but at the same time if he hadn't walked out on your… or I guess our…"

Lucas chuckled and shrugged. "It's okay. There are bound to be things like that are hard to figure out how to put it. But I know what you mean. I can't help being pissed at him, thinking that maybe if he hadn't left my… sorry our mom then we might have grown up together."

"That's true. But then again Nathan wouldn't exist if that had been how it was. And I mean I love my family. Yeah a bunch of shit happened and I needed a fresh start but I couldn't imagine not having known them."

Lucas nodded in understanding. It was true that he couldn't imagine not having Nathan as a brother. They had been through a lot and even though they weren't exactly getting along at that moment it didn't change anything.

"I guess you can't paint it in black and white. There's no fine line between right and wrong."

Jessi agreed with him wholeheartedly although she wasn't quite ready to explain exactly why she felt that way. Unfortunately for her Lucas had caught her statement of 'yeah a bunch of shit happened' and he was curious enough to ask her about it. Instead of a response he was met with silence. Jessi dropped her gaze and stopped walking.

"Listen" she said after struggling with how to say what she needed to say. "I think you're really cool and I'm looking forward to getting to know you but it's gonna take time before I can trust you with stuff like that."

"It's cool," Lucas replied immediately. "I get it, believe me. There are plenty of things that I'm not ready to just start talking about to someone I just met."

They continued their walk in a comfortable silence. When they were close to the house Lucas asked, "So when are you starting school?"

"Monday. I'm sure it will be funtastic catching up but I wanted a few days to settle in and get to know the town."

Lucas smiled. He didn't know how to properly explain Tree Hill High. The amount of drama at that one little high school was unbelievable.

"Well if you get too far behind, Haley works at the tutor center. She's really good at it too."

Jessi nodded in agreement but she hoped that missing the first week wouldn't put her too far behind. As much as she hated the bullshit that went along with most high schools, especially from the faculty when they don't understand a student and won't take the time to figure out the problem, she didn't like getting bad grades. She wasn't a genius by far but she was smart and usually an A-B student.

"Nathan." Lucas said suddenly, pulling Jessi out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw a tall young man with black hair standing on the front porch of her new home. Nathan smiled and walked down to meet them.

"You must be Jessica," he said offering his hand. He had come to the conclusion that regardless of what faults their parents may have and who was wrong or right in the situation, his sister wasn't responsible for any of it and he wanted to welcome her into the family.

"Jessi," she replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

The three of them sat on the porch for an hour talking and enjoying the nice quiet night. As she got to know her brothers further some of her fears started to ease up. There was still a lot of uncertainty in her future and a lot to deal with but for the first time in months she felt as though things might actually turn out okay.

Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. The chapter title is a song by Eagle-Eye Cherry


	4. Chapter 4: Destination Anywhere

**Author's Note**: I'm a little disappointed in only receiving one review. I know I've been posting chapters fairly quickly but I would really like to know what people think of it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters, they all belong to Mark Schwahn. I only own Jessi and any other original characters that come into the story.

**Chapter 4: Destination Anywhere**

Peyton stared at the sketchbook in her lap. She had a pencil in her hand but her mind was elsewhere. It had been for days. Anyone who saw her latest artwork would know that her thoughts were focused on her biological mother Ellie Harp. It had been hard enough to accept that she was adopted, something she was still dealing with. Now she had to face the possibility that Ellie had cancer. Peyton wasn't completely convinced that it was true however. It was especially difficult for her to trust this new parent in her life after the way Ellie had deceived her when they first met. In her opinion, pretending to be a reporter was not a very good way to introduce yourself to your daughter. It was impossible for her not to be cautious.

"Or maybe I just don't want to face the thought of losing another mom," she mumbled before setting the sketchbook aside.

"What'd you say P. Sawyer?" Brooke asked from Peyton's closet where she was perusing the blonde artist's clothes. The two of them were meeting Jessi for the first time and Brooke had insisted on meticulously picking their outfits. Peyton didn't mind because the less that she had to focus on these things, the more time she had to work through her parental issues.

"Nothing Brooke", she called not wanting to get into another discussion about Ellie. She knew that her best friend was so supportive of the idea that she get to know Ellie because her own mother had been absent from her life since she was a little kid. Peyton supposed that in some ways it was better to lose a mom that loved you than to have one that doesn't.

"I just don't know what to pick for you Goldilocks. What says, 'welcome to our fucked up ass little family of crazy people?'"

Peyton snorted and stood up to go help. Much to Brooke's dismay she grabbed her Sugarcult t-shirt and a pair of jeans instead of taking her time to choose.

"Peyton you just defeated the entire purpose of the last hour of my life."

"Brooke we're not going to some fashion event, we're meeting Luke's sister. And by the way, I think it would probably go smoother if you didn't give off the impression that you're completely nuts."

Brooke came out of the closet and gave her best friend a playful shove. "Why did we have to wait until today to meet her? It's not fair."

Peyton rolled her eyes and started getting dressed. Surprisingly throughout the years they'd been friends, Brooke's cluelessness never got old. It was one of the things she loved about her best friend.

"Well since it's the weekend it will be more relaxed. Besides she just got here. She needed a couple days to prepare for meeting the town wacko." Laughing Peyton jumped out of the way of Brooke's smack. "I'm sure she just wants to ease into it. I mean hell she's pretty much starting her life over."

"I wondered about that. Why would someone choose to just leave everything behind, all their family and friends."

Brooke always had a way of causally getting at the hard truths nobody wanted to deal with. Peyton shrugged and thought about it. It was a drastic move, upending your life and starting over with none of the people you're familiar with.

"I don't know. Lucas kind of did that when he moved to Charleston."

"What his move that lasted all of two days?"

"He moved there to start over. Get away from all the mistakes he made."

"So do you think this Jessi girl is running from her past then?" Brooke asked thoughtfully.

"I don't know Brooke! Why don't we just get to know her before you start dissecting her life story?"

Brooke went into the bathroom to do her makeup leaving Peyton to once again peruse her 'new parent' issues. She couldn't help thinking that Brooke had a good point. Leaving the home you'd known all your life was a pretty drastic move and it wasn't something a person did lightly. Which probably meant that the newcomer had a complicated history.

"Well if so she shouldn't have a problem fitting in with us," she muttered under her breath.

As Brooke and Peyton were heading out, Lucas and Jessi were already pulling up to the beach. Lucas put the car in park and smiled.

"Not bad. Not the smoothest car I've ever driven but it's a decent ride."

"You're lucky you know." Jessi commented with a laugh. "I don't usually let people drive my car.

Lucas grinned and opened the driver side door. "Well you can trust me. I've even driven an actual race car before."

"Oh really?"

Lucas explained to his sister about the trip he and Nathan had made to see Nathan's uncle Cooper where they had been given the chance to race around the track. He also, somewhat reluctantly, added in the part about Nathan's accident.

"Wow I really should start writing this stuff down so I can remember it all. Heck it would probably make a good book. This town seems to have more drama than a soap opera."

"I guess we do have more than our fair share of it."

A loud honk cut off Jessi's reply and the twins turned to see Peyton's car pull into the parking lot. The sight of the truly classic car caught Jessi's breath. She had been around plenty of classic cars but she had never seen a Mercury Comet in person. When Peyton got out Jessi smiled and said,

"Nice car."

She stepped forward and offered Peyton her hand.

"Jessi Bradshaw."

"Peyton Sawyer."

Lucas smiled at Peyton and then turned to Brooke. She grinned and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Jessi this is Brooke. Brooke, Jessi."

"Nice to meet you." Brooke said as they shook hands.

"Same here."

The four of them walked down to the beach and set up towels to sit on. Brooke immediately grabbed Lucas and pulled him towards the water. He sent the others an apologetic look but he didn't seem to be very displeased as Brooke started stripping down to her bikini. Peyton shook her head and sat down.

"You know she spent over an hour picking an outfit just so she could take it off as soon as we got here."

"I take it you didn't put quite so much effort into it?" Jessi asked with a smile as she sat on the towel next to Peyton.

"Not quite."

"I'm more of a throw on whatever's clean."

Peyton laughed as she took in her new friend's choice of clothing: baggy khaki shorts, flip-flops, and a New Found Glory band tee. The shirt intrigued Peyton, making her wonder how many of the same bands they liked.

"New Found Glory?"

Jessi nodded as she pulled the shirt off so that she was only wearing a tanktop, her idea of swimwear.

"Yeah you heard of them?"

Peyton nodded and the two of them started to talk about music. They discovered that they had similar tastes in music although Jessi liked some of the newer hard rock and metal bands that Peyton wasn't really into. After a while Brooke called out to them and they decided they wouldn't be able to avoid swimming much longer without facing her wrath.

Peyton pulled off her shirt and held up a bottle of sunblock. "Do you mind?" she asked. Jessi shrugged and accepted the bottle, popping open the cap and squirting a blob of lotion into her hand. Peyton turned around and Jessi began to rub the lotion on her back. Unseen by the blonde, Jessi blushed furiously. When she was done she turned around before Peyton could see her face.

Not noticing the other girl's embarrassment Peyton picked up the bottle and said, "Your turn. A couple minutes later they were both on their way down to the water where Brooke was repeatedly trying to dunk Lucas. Peyton stopped a few feet in and turned back to Jessi. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jessi replied. She smiled and stepped into the water, immediately enjoying the cool flow across her feet. "This is just my first time going in the ocean." She looked hesitant though as though she would be swallowed up if she went in any further. She wasn't exactly afraid of swimming in the ocean. It was more the vastness of the water. The seemingly never-ending depths intimidated her.

Peyton laughed and walked back over. She threw an arm around Jessi's shoulders and said, "Don't worry, I've been swimming here my whole life and I've never been attacked by a shark or anything."

"Wait you don't really get sharks around here do you?" Jessi asked with a laugh as she allowed herself to be pulled deeper into the water. Earlier in the day she had been nervous about meeting Brooke and Peyton. She had worried that she would make a bad impression with two of her brother's closest friends or that her presence would make things awkward. Instead she had a good time and got the impression that her new friends genuinely liked her.

After a while she and Peyton went to lay down and let the sun dry them. While they lay there they watched Brooke tease Lucas over and over.

"That boy is hopelessly in love with her isn't he?" she asked.

"Yeah it's almost sad. Like watching a little puppy chasing after something."

After sharing a laugh they lapsed back into a comfortable silence. When Brooke showed no signs of stopping her antics Jessi decided to start up another conversation.

"So what's the high school like?"

Peyton rolled onto her stomach so she could prop her head up and said, "It sucks most of the time I guess. Like you would expect any high school to. But seriously I don't think it's that bad. There are the usual cliques and most people tend to stick to them but every once in a while you'll find someone who's cool to hang out with."

"Well I guess it can't be much worse than my old school. How bad is it on rumors?"

Peyton rolled her eyes at this. "The worst. And I don't mean to scare you off, but I should warn you that you'll probably be a popular topic for a while."

Jessi shrugged. She had expected that. After all, what more juicy gossip could there be than a long lost twin suddenly showing up?

"So what do you think of Tree Hill so far?" Peyton asked, growing more and more curious about the new girl in town. Jessi seemed open and friendly in general but being one who knew what it was like to be guarded and reluctant to let people in, Peyton could see that there was a lot more than what could be seen on the surface.

"It seems like a nice town. Small but not hickville small."

Down in the water Brooke finally stopped running and let Lucas grab her and dunk her underwater. When she came up she playfully splashed him a couple times and then looked up at the beach. She was somewhat surprised to see the two almost-dry teens talking the way they were.

"They seem to be getting along pretty well."

Lucas laughed and wrapped his arms around his girl's waist. "You almost sound jealous."

"I'm not believe me. I'm just surprised with the way Peyton's been lately. Making new friends hasn't really been on the top of her to do list."

"Well they have a lot in common."

Brooke snorted. "Yeah like listening to weird indie bands I've never heard of."

Lucas faked a hurt expression and stuck out his bottom lip. "Hey I listen to those bands too."

Brooke turned around and gave him a heated kiss. She allowed herself to enjoy the mostly naked makeout session then broke the kiss and smiled up at him. Lucas stared back at her with love in his eyes, his heart all but melting at the smile on her lips.

"Well in your case it's hot so you get away with it." She kissed him again feeling slightly guilty about not agreeing to an exclusive relationship. "But I do think it would be cool for them to be friends. They can relate on the whole being adopted thing."

Lucas thought for a moment about all the issues that were sure to come up in the near future, not only with his sister but with the whole gang but instead of dwelling on it he decided to let it go for now and have fun. With a sly grin he wrapped his arms around Brooke's waist and jumped backwards, taking her into the water with him.

While they were hanging out at the beach, Karen was busy explaining the situation to Deb. As a business partner and friend Karen wanted her to know the truth before it got out to the rest of the town, specifically to Dan.

"Oh my god Karen. I don't even… wow."

"Do you think I'm a terrible person for hiding it all these years?"

Deb shook her head and patted Karen's shoulder. "Of course not. I know what it's like to be a teenage mother and I can't even imagine how scared you must have been."

"Do you think I should tell Dan?"

That wasn't a question Deb could easily answer. "I don't know Karen. He's going throw a tantrum no matter what. Hell if I thought it were possible to keep the truth from him indefinitely I wouldn't tell him at all."

"I know he's going to find out eventually. There's nothing I can do to stop that but… I just wish I could keep him out of Jessi's life entirely."

"She'd definitely be better off."

Karen sighed heavily and took a drink of coffee. "Isn't that the truth."

She knew that the father of her children was going to be furious with her but that wasn't what she was truly worried about. Her biggest concern was how Dan would affect her daughter's life in Tree Hill. Jessi knew the story of Dan abandoning her all those years ago but she had chosen not to go into too much detail about what a despicable person Dan was most of the time. Whether or not she chose to get to know her father was up to her and despite her worries Karen wasn't going to stand in her way if that was what she wanted to do. That didn't mean she was going to give Dan the opportunity to hurt their daughter. She made a silent vow that if Dan were given a chance to be a part of Jessi's life, he would only have that one chance and if he blew it she would stop at nothing to protect her daughter.

**Author's Note:** Please review and let know what you think. Chapter title is a song by Sugarcult.


	5. Chapter 5: You Won't Know

**Disclaimer****:** I don't own the show, just my original character.

**Chapter 5: You Won't Know**

Lucas' eyebrows shot up when he heard the sound of an acoustic guitar and someone singing coming from his sister's room. He didn't recognize the song but he liked it. It seemed kind of punk/alternative. As he listened to the melody played out he smiled. It looked like there was another talented musician being added to the family. He wondered even more about his sister and what had inspired her decision to move to Tree Hill. It wasn't as if he was unhappy about it. On the contrary he was delighted to have the opportunity to know her but had their roles been reversed he would not have elected to leave his home behind.

The music ended and Jessi came out into the kitchen. When she saw Lucas standing there she jumped in surprise.

"I didn't think anyone else was home," she said looking embarrassed.

"I just got here." Lucas replied with a smile. "Nice song by the way."

Jessi smiled and looked down. She was shy about people hearing her music before it was complete. In addition she was slightly nervous about what her new family would think about her plans to play music professionally. When she told her adopted father this he had been furious.

"It's okay I guess."

"You don't have to be embarrassed," Lucas said apologetically.

"I know, it's not that."

"Well do you want to walk down to the rivercourt with me and talk about it?"

Jessi considered this for a moment. Talking about her life wasn't exactly something she looked forward to doing but her brother had told her a lot about his life and trust was a two way street. She wasn't going to be able to make a life for herself here if she kept everything about her a secret.

"Okay sure."

Down at the rivercourt Lucas tossed her a basketball and smiled. He had asked her to come with him for a reason. It had become pretty obvious that Jessi didn't really want to open up to him and tell him about herself so he devised a plan to make the process easier.

"I'll make you a deal. We take turns shooting and every time you make a shot you get to ask me something about myself."

"And if I miss?"

"You have to answer the question you asked last."

"All right deal." Jessi said before sinking a shot from the free throw line. She was far from athletic but basketball was the one sport she was decent at. "Favorite food?"

"Omelet with bacon, sausage, tomato, and american cheese. Mom makes it perfectly."

Lucas made a shot and thought carefully about what he wanted to ask. He intended to keep this game light at friendly. He was all for a serious exchange of life stories including all the bad stuff but it wasn't something to rush. Jessi had to learn that she could trust him before he could get her to open up so the only way their game was going to go that direction was if she took it there.

"What's your favorite band?"

"Don't have one. Each musical artist contributes something different so I like them for different reasons."

Jessi shot again and made a second shot. This time she decided to dig a little deeper.

"Most embarrassing moment."

"Hmm… Well when I first joined the basketball team, Nathan and his friends liked to mess with me and this one time they stole my clothes while I was in the showers. I had to use two basketballs to cover myself and the coach caught me."

"Damn."

Lucas shot and made it so he asked, "What school subject do you hate the most?"

"Math." Jessi said without hesitation. "I mean I do okay in it but I can't stand it." She then shot and missed. "Crap. Okay so my most embarrassing moment would be this one time when I was a freshman. I was late for my next class so I ran out of the locker room after P.E. and tripped on my shoelaces. My books went flying like ten feet down the hall and I fell flat on face in front of a whole crowd of people."

The next shot went in and Lucas took a chance with asking something rather personal. "Why were you so reluctant about your music?"

Jessi sighed and dribbled the ball for a minute, hesitant to answer. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust Lucas enough to tell him, but that she was reluctant to let anyone in after the things that had happened in her hometown. _You've got to stop being so afraid_, she told herself.

"Well my parents never really liked the idea of me being a musician. When I told my dad I wanted to put college off for a year so I could travel around and try to get on with a record label he flipped out. He told me I was going to college and that was final. I wasn't going to waste my time chasing stupid dreams."

The older twin felt guilty immediately. His question was indeed a bittersweet victory. As much as he wanted to really get to know his sister he regretted making her bring up what was clearly a painful memory.

"I'm sorry."

"No it's okay." Jessi replied. She didn't like talking about it but it felt good to confide in somebody about it. "My parents never really understood me. My dad especially. He's a nice guy but he can be somewhat of a narcissist sometimes. He has a lot of preconceptions about things and ninety-nine percent of the time he won't admit when he's wrong."

"That sucks. Kind of reminds me of Dan."

Their game forgotten they began to shoot around while Lucas explained more about their father. Jessi was disappointed to learn what kind of person her biological father was but couldn't help thinking that Karen made up for it by being such a good mom. She harbored no anger towards her for giving her up.

"So what's the deal with Nathan and Haley being married?" she asked when they were on the way home. "I mean it's totally cool I'm just curious."

Lucas chuckled. He was starting to think that somebody should write a sort of guidebook for people that moved to Tree Hill. Everyone's complicated stories seemed to get more complicated as time went on.

"They fell in love and decided they were ready for it. They were both sure they wanted to spend their lives together."

"But not anymore?" Jessi asked. Trying to make sense of everything going on was difficult.

"It's… complicated. They were already having some trouble when Hales left to go on tour and while she was gone Nathan was in a really bad place. Now that she's back there's a lot that they have to work out."

The next thing Jessi wanted to ask was a little more personal and she didn't want to overstep her bounds.

"So are you like on Haley's side or something?" When her brother looked at her quizzically she added, "There seemed to be some tension between you and Nathan when I met him."

Lucas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This question opened up a whole other deal. One thing was sure, after he explained this one he was asking a few of his own.

"Yes and no. Hales is my best friend and I think he's being a little hard on her but it's also because of Dan. Last school year I was working with Mom's ex-boyfriend Andy to find evidence that Dan's business at the dealership wasn't entirely legal and Nathan found out. After Andy moved back to New Zealand Nathan asked me to stop because he and his mom wanted to put their family back together but I was hell bent on revenge so I kept at it. Nathan found out and even though he realized his mom hadn't meant for Dan to be a part of their family he was pissed because I broke my promise."

As Jessi absorbed all this she mentally prepared herself for the questions she knew were coming. Lucas had divulged quite a bit of rather personal information and the look on his face told her that wanted to know more about her.

"So, I've pretty much told you my life story but I don't really know much about you. And I think everyone's pretty curious as to why you decided to move here."

_This is it_, she thought. She could either be honest and find out if her brother's opinion of her would change or hide the truth and present a false version of herself. _I don't want to tell him all of it but if I don't learn to trust him I might as well pack up and go home. I guess it's a risk I'll have to take since my alternative is going back to where almost nobody wants me around._

"I kinda screwed up in a big way. I did something I'm really not proud of and my parents couldn't forgive me." She was silent for a moment and just as Lucas was about to tell her she didn't have to go on if she didn't want to she continued. "I got involved with drugs a little. Nothing too major, just pot but I was getting high all the time."

They walked in silence for another block. Jessi was trying to force her guilt back down and was having trouble finding the words to continue and Lucas thought she was finished.

"So they just gave up on you? Instead of trying to get you help?"

Jessi sighed and slowed her pace as they turned onto their street. This wasn't something she was ready for Karen to know.

"Not exactly. They didn't even know until… well one day about a month and a half ago I was getting high and they called me to go pick up my little sister. Her name's Kate by the way. She's fifteen. Anyway I shouldn't have been driving but I didn't exactly have a good reason to get out of it and I had my stepmom's Trailblazer because my car was being worked on. So I went to get her and on the way back to the house I hit a tree."

They reached the house so Lucas sat down on the single step up to the walkway. He stretched his legs out on the sidewalk as Jessi sat down. She kept her gaze pointed at the ground but in the twilight Lucas could see tears forming in her eyes.

"The truck was totaled. I walked away with a couple bruises but my sister had a broken arm, two broken ribs, and a concussion. They were going to charge me with driving under the influence but my lawyer was able to make a deal thanks to my clean record. Instead of the original charge I pleaded guilty to reckless op. I lost my license for thirty days, had to do ten hours of community service and pay a huge fine."

"Wow," Lucas said softly. He had half expected his sister to keep at least a part of the truth to herself but instead she was letting it all out. He wanted to make sure she understood that he wasn't going to judge her for her past. Starting over was something he understood and whoever she had been back then it was clear she wasn't that person now.

"My parents were beyond mad. They didn't talk to me for three weeks. If it hadn't been for my stepmom and my sister my dad would have kicked me out. Surprisingly enough the only person who stood by me was my little sister."

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah." Jessi replied, her voice thick with emotion. "She was mad at first but she kind of understood why I had a drug problem. I had friends but I didn't have any 'real' friends and a lot of people made fun of me just because I was different from them you know." Lucas nodded in understanding. "She told me that she would forgive me if I stopped smoking weed. She could be a major pain in the ass but she was the only one who really understood me." As she said this tears rolled down her cheeks. "I could barely live with myself after the accident. If Kate had been killed… I don't even know what I would have done. My older sister, my parents, and pretty much everyone else in my life wanted nothing to do with me so I decided to find Karen and try to start over. I'm pretty sure the only one who didn't want to see me go was Kate but she understood why I had to."

Lucas wrapped his arms around his sister as more tears fell. It was difficult for him to see her so vulnerable and upset. Although he had never been in a situation like hers he did understand feeling extremely guilty. The things she had just told him were terrible and for an outsider it would be easy to judge and criticize the things she had done but Lucas could see that the things she thought about herself were worse than what anyone could say.

"Listen," he said softly. "Whatever you did or whoever you were doesn't matter. You came here to start over and as far as I'm concerned you've got a clean slate."

Jessi pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes. That had gone far better than she had imagined it would. She had been expecting her brother to think she was a terrible person and she wouldn't have blamed him at all. She thought it herself and Lucas' words did nothing to assuage the guilt she felt. After the accident, once she'd sobered up and realized what she'd done, she had felt so terrible that she had wanted to kill herself. In her heart she knew that if her sister had died she wouldn't have been able to go on living.

"Thanks," she said as she stood up. "Sorry for going all true confessions on you."

"It's okay. You're a part of this family now and if you ever need to talk, about anything, I'm here."

Karen smiled and let the curtain she was holding fall back into place. She didn't know for sure what had transpired between the twins but it looked as though Jessi had confided something in Lucas and that made her happier than she could have imagined. Whether or not it had anything to do with them being twins she didn't know, but it was clear that her children were bonding quickly and Karen hoped that it would continue until Jessi truly felt that she was part of the family.

**Author's Note****:** I would love to have some feedback on how my development of Jessi's character is going. One of the biggest flaws of the original was the ambiguity of the original character and this time I'm trying harder to show the readers who she is. If you don't mind leaving a review to let me know what you think that would be great.

The chapter title is a song by Brand New


	6. Chapter 6: The Thin Ice

**Disclaimer****:** I don't own, just borrowing.

**Chapter 6: The Thin Ice**

THH. Tree Hill High. It seemed like a nice enough school with nice enough looking students milling around. That didn't mean much though. Jessi had enough sense to know that things were rarely as they appeared and she doubted that her new high school was any exception.

"You okay?" Lucas asked. Jessi tore her gaze from the school and nodded.

"Yeah I'm just nervous I guess." In truth she was terrified. The past few days had been full of introductions but today was the day everyone found out about her. It also wasn't the first time she had switched schools so she knew that it could be a very trying experience.

"Well don't worry. I'll show to the main office and hopefully I'll be able to show you around."

They got out of the car and headed towards the school. They met Peyton along the way who was hanging up flyers for an all ages night at Tric, the club Karen owned. Jessi was excited to check out the club.

"Hey guys what's up?" Peyton asked when she saw them. "Excited about your first day?"

"Oh yeah." Jessi said in mock seriousness. "I can't wait to get down to some hard-core learning."

"Did someone say hard-core?" asked a voice from behind them. Tim Smith jogged around the twins and turned to face them. He grinned at Jessi and said in usual cocky fashion, "Hi new girl. I'm Tim, the school stud. What do you say you dump broody here and come have a good time with me?"

Peyton, Lucas, and Jessi made disgusted faces at time and Lucas informed him of the relation between Jessi and himself.

"Oops my bad. But hey great news for me right?"

Jessi gave her brother a 'do you seriously know this guy?' look. Lucas rolled his eyes and told Tim to go bother Nathan. They reached the main office, Peyton tagging along, and Jessi met with the principal for a second time to get her schedule. It turned out that she had first period calculus while Lucas had economics. The classes were at opposite ends of the school but Peyton also had calculus first period so she offered to show Jessi the way. She had enjoyed hanging out at the beach with her and was looking forward to getting to know her better. Lucas headed off towards his class and the girls began to make their way to the senior hallway.

"Ugh. Calculus first thing in the morning? That's just cruel." Jessi complained. She showed Peyton her schedule and found out they had several classes together.

"Tell me about it. Mr. Miller isn't too bad though. He's patient as long as you put forth an effort."

"So does anyone else in the 'gang' have this class with us?" Jessi asked, making air quotes. Peyton laughed as she stopped in front of her locker.

"No, everyone else has it fifth period."

Jessi smiled and followed Peyton further down the hall. When they stopped so she could put her backpack in her locker she said, "I really appreciate you showing me around."

"Oh it's no problem. I don't mind hangin out with you. I had fun the other day."

"Me too. We should do it again sometime."

"Do you want to come over after school? Brooke is going shopping with Haley to buy stuff for their apartment so I don't have anything to do."

"Sure. I'll get to see the quote unquote ultimate music collection."

Peyton laughed as they entered the classroom. While Jessi spoke to Mr. Miller and received a pile of makeup assignments Peyton went to the back of the classroom and sat down. She set her purse on the desk next to it to save it for Jessi. One thing she liked about the math teacher was that he didn't assign seats. Most of the teachers did because it made taking attendance easier but Mr. Miller was a firm believer in the traditional role call.

The blonde artist watched her new friend walk down the aisle, ignoring the stares from the other students. Judging by the whispers it was clear that the news of just who Jessi was had begun to spread. As Peyton smiled reassuringly at Jessi she realized that she was actually excited at the idea of spending time with her after school. She hadn't been interested, let alone excited, about making a new friend in a long time, not since Anna had first moved to Tree Hill. It seemed a little odd to be feeling this way now given all the crap she was going through. Figuring it was most likely the fact that Jessi was also adopted and getting to know her birth mother that made them connect so easily, Peyton put it out of her mind.

Later that day at lunch, Jessi was introduced to Skills and Mouth. Nathan joined them halfway through the lunch period followed shortly by Tim. Jessi really enjoyed sitting with them because they didn't talk to her like she was the new girl. Other than the standard introductory questions it felt like she was just a part of their group. This surprised her greatly. The last time she had switched schools she had felt like she was walking on pins and needles, as if everyone were waiting for her to figure out where she belonged. Here she already had friends that had welcomed her into their group, although group wasn't an appropriate name for it. They were all friends but didn't 'stay together' like most cliques did and they didn't all associate as one type of person like jocks or preps. Jessi didn't care about belonging to the popular crowd or any crowd for that matter. Having come from a school full of cliques and the like, it was nice to see that here she didn't have to worry about it.

After school Jessi gave Lucas the keys to her car so he didn't have to walk home. Peyton had offered to take her home so she didn't have to worry about getting lost. As they waited on Peyton to finish talking to Brooke Lucas popped open the hood and checked out the engine.

"Looks pretty good."

"That's because I take good care of it." Jessi replied with a smirk. "Which reminds me. Only rule of driving my car is, you hurt my baby and I hurt you."

Lucas laughed and tossed his backpack into the passenger seat. He was secretly overjoyed that his sister liked cars. Besides playing basketball, working on cars was his favorite thing to do and he was glad to have another thing in common with Jessi.

Peyton walked over as Lucas was telling his sister that he would text her to let her know what time dinner would be.

"Ready to go?" she asked cheerfully.

"Yep."

Lucas opened the driver side door of sister's Bonneville and jokingly said to Peyton, "Now make sure you take care of her."

Peyton rolled her eyes and made a face of mock annoyance. "Yes I know the drill. Have her home by eleven, use a condom, blah, blah, blah." Jessi, who had unfortunately been taking a drink from a bottle of water, choked when Peyton said this and doubled over coughing as the other two laughed.

She wiped the water off her chin and said, "Nice. It's my first day of school and already I got people trying to kill me."

At Peyton's house, Jessi was impressed with both Peyton's music collection and her artwork adorning the walls. Peyton just smiled and shrugged at the compliments.

"Thanks."

"So what is there to get into around here?" Jessi asked as Peyton sat down at her computer and put some music on.

"I don't know. There are usually parties every weekend if you're into that. There's the pier with all kinds of shops. Oh I'll have to show you this one that's run by this old hippie guy. He sells some really out there stuff."

"Cool." Jessi replied as she took a seat in the other chair.

"I don't of much else to do. I haven't been getting out a whole lot lately."

"Why not?"

Peyton shrugged. She didn't really want to discuss Ellie or Jake but at the same she figured that as far as Ellie was concerned, Jessi was the only person she knew who would understand.

"I'm sorry, that's none of my business." Jessi said when Peyton didn't respond.

"No it's okay. Did Lucas tell you that I'm adopted?"

Jessi shook her head. "No he didn't say anything. What a small world."

"Yeah I know right?" Peyton said with a tiny laugh. "Well at the beginning of the summer my birth mom showed up. And she just kind of sprung it on me when I didn't even know anything about it."

"Wow that's rough."

"Yeah. How long have you known?"

"Since Karen found out about that whole HCM thing. She contacted my dad to tell him I was at risk for it and that's when he told me."

Peyton hadn't thought of that. "Do you have it?"

"Nope. Guess we all got lucky on that. So what happened with your birth mom?

Peyton, who was absentmindedly chewing on the end of a pencil, switched to a different song then continued.

"Well after she showed up and was like 'hi I'm Ellie, your mom' I told her to stay away from me. Then right before the school year started she came back. I've been trying to deal with it and decide if I want to let her in my life. And then she tells me she has cancer." Jessi's eyebrows shot up at this revelation. She had no idea Peyton was going through so much. "It's just tough trying to deal with all that at once."

"No kidding. I can see why you're having trouble letting her in. That's a lot to process."

"I don't know how you do it." Peyton said softly. She turned to her new friend, unexpectedly putting her guard down. "You moved halfway across the country to meet Karen, leaving everything behind."

Jessi bit down on her bottom lip and shifted in the chair. All of a sudden it felt like things were happening way too fast. On the move down from Ohio she had decided to take things one step at a time as she adjusted to her new life but already she had confided her darkest secret to her brother and was considering doing the same with Peyton. She wasn't someone who trusted easily and she had no idea how Peyton would react. To tell Peyton would be to take a chance that she wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore and since she was good friends with Lucas that could make Jessi's life in Tree Hill a lot more difficult. On the other hand she didn't want to lie and risk ruining their friendship that way.

"Well… things got pretty screwed up back home. I got pretty screwed up. I caused a lot of pain and eventually I realized that I needed to get away and start over, at least until the people I hurt are willing to forgive me."

"It still has to be scary, leaving everything behind."

Jessi nodded. "It's terrifying. Some people back home accused me of taking the easy way out instead of facing up to what I did but nothing about this is easy. Don't get me wrong, everyone's been great but it's… you know, at lot to deal with."

"Yeah it is." Peyton fully understood that. "But do you ever feel anger towards Karen for giving you up?"

"I don't know. I mean I did at first but I had a long time to get used to the fact before I actually met her. It's a complicated situation and even though I understand her reasons it gets to me sometimes."

They sat in silence for a while. Peyton was thinking about what Jessi had said, trying to relate her words to the deal with Ellie. The only thing she knew for sure was that she wasn't sure about anything.

"So do you want to talk about why you moved?" Peyton asked to break the silence. It felt kind of awkward skipping the small stuff but her curiosity was kicking in. Jessi intrigued her. From what she had met of the girl it was hard to believe she hadn't been such a nice person before.

"Um… I don't know, I guess."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No it's okay. If we're gonna be friends I guess you should know the real me."

Jessi proceeded to tell Peyton the whole story she had told her twin brother the night before. Peyton thought of her mother's accident and the pain of losing a loved one in a car crash and was able to understand the anger Jessi's adopted family had shown. But she could also see the guilt in her eyes and that she was no longer the person she had been before the accident.

"That's a rough deal."

"I deserve a lot worse than I got. I was supposed to watch out for my sister, protect her, but instead I was the one she needed protecting from."

Peyton gave Jessi a hug and tried to think of a way to change to path of the conversation. She felt terrible now, asking for the story. It hadn't been her intention to reduce the girl to tears.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up." The only response she got was a shrug. "But I don't think you're a terrible person. You may have screwed up but the Jessi that I've met doesn't seem to be the girl you described."

This made Jessi wonder. Peyton sounded sincere, like she wasn't just trying to make her feel better. She had always viewed herself as the same person just trying to do things differently. The idea that a major change had occurred never even entered her mind.

"Do you think it's really that simple? That I could just become a better person so quickly?"

"Simple, no, but possible. Starting over means you can just be the person you want to be."

"Well the accident was a major eye-opener. I realized things had to change. The next day I went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting and I kept going. I saw that I couldn't just keep getting fucked up so I didn't have to deal with the fact that I wasn't happy."

"I can kind of understand that."

Peyton told Jessi about trying cocaine during junior year and her struggles to avoid using it again to get away from the troubles she had been having. This led to her explaining her relationship with Jake and his departure to find his daughter.

A text message from Lucas alerted the girls to the fact that it was starting to get late so they headed out to Peyton's car. As Peyton put the top up she apologized for the direction the evening had taken.

"Sorry for the way the night turned out. I meant for us to hang out and have fun."

"It's okay. I actually had a good time. Thanks for… well for being someone I can trust."

As Peyton drove Jessi home they talked about music and Peyton hinted that she might try to get her new friend to perform at Tric someday. Jessi only laughed and told Peyton that she had no problem with it but she didn't want to hear any complaints when the customers demanded a refund.

"Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Definitely." Jessi said with a smile. "I'll need someone to keep me awake in Calculus."

Inside Jessi asked Karen if she wanted any help and was told she could set the table. The small, still adjusting family sat down to dinner and discussed the day casually. It was a light, happy meal and towards the end Karen asked her daughter what she thought of her new home.

"Well it's still all new and stuff but I don't think it will take long for it to feel like home."

"Cheers to that." Lucas said, holding up his glass of milk. Karen and Jessi tapped their glasses to his and laughed. And even though Jessi was uncertain and nervous as to what the future had in store for her, she was starting to feel like she had found the place where she belonged.

**Author's Note****: **Please review and let me know what you think. The story is going to pick up now. I think I've done enough of introducing the character and can move on to other parts of the main plot. Chapter title is a song by Pink Floyd.


	7. Author's Note

Author's Note

I'm not sure if I want to keep writing for this fic. So far I have only received one review and considering how much I have written already that is disappointing. Getting feedback on my writing is important to me and if I'm not going to be getting any I don't see the point in continuing. I have other ideas not related to fanfiction that I decided to put off and if nobody is really interested in this fic I will move on to them.


	8. Chapter 7: The Righteous and the Wicked

**Author's Note****:** I've decided to continue the story despite not having received any more reviews. I'm writing this for me as much as I am for the readers. It's been on my mind for a long time and until I get it done I don't think I'll be able to overcome the block that prevents me from writing anything else. As long as I keep getting hits I'll keep posting chapters.

**Disclaimer****:** I don't own OTH.

**Chapter 7: The Righteous and the Wicked**

Dan Scott was livid. He had not felt anger of this magnitude since the time he discovered the one-night-stand between his brother and his wife.

"And they call me the bad guy," he muttered to himself as he got out of his SUV. Gritting his teeth he wrenched open the door of Karen's Café and stormed inside. This was the final straw. It was all he could take. Granted he owed Karen a lot after all he had put her through and he truly regretted his actions but what she had done was going too far. When he had approached her about joint custody of Lucas she should have told him the truth. The fact that he had to find out at a PTA meeting from Sherry Smith only added fuel to the fire.

"She didn't even have the guts to tell me herself," he growled. The café was devoid of customers and the only waitress was a tall girl he had never seen before. Marching up to the counter she was wiping down he barked, "Where's your boss?"

The girl looked up at him in surprise and Dan's heart nearly skipped a beat. She had Lucas' eyes. He knew right away who this was. In his rage he hadn't considered the possibility of Karen giving their daughter a job at the small restaurant.

"Um, she's busy. Can I help you?"

Jessi stared at the man trying to decide if he posed some kind of threat. He was clearly angry but he didn't appear to have a weapon of any kind and she thought his clothes looked too expensive to be worn by a robber. Still she didn't like the look on his face.

"Are you her?" Dan asked with slightly less venom in his voice. He didn't quite know how to address his daughter. On one hand he wanted to know about her but on the other it angered him that she had been living in Tree Hill for over three weeks and had made no attempt to contact him.

"Depends on who you're loo-"

"Jessi are you done with the counters?" Karen interrupted suddenly as she exited the kitchen. She gasped and nearly dropped the broom she was carrying. The sight of Dan standing there scared her. He glared at her menacingly and glanced at Jessi.

"How dare you?" Dan bellowed. "What gave you the right to keep this from me?"

Karen struggled to speak. "Dan, I…"

"What? You what?"

"Hey!" Jessi snapped, raising her voice to match Dan's. "Back off!"

Dan took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. While he paced a few steps in front of the counter trying to think of what to say next, Jessi deliberately place herself between him and her mother.

"I think you should leave," she said defiantly. Over the past few weeks she had been struggling with the decision of whether or not to let her birth father into her life and now he had made the decision much easier.

"No I think you should leave. The grownups need to talk about a few things." Dan snapped back.

"Like hell." Jessi retorted. "Maybe you did have a right to know but it was _my_ choice not to tell you. So don't go screaming at Karen like that."

"Look here missy! I don't know where you're from but in this town _both_ parents have rights to their kids."

Jessi crossed her arms as heat flooded her face. Going into this mess she had wanted to keep an open mind and give Dan a chance (albeit a limited one) before she wrote him off completely but he was quickly ruining that chance. Moving to Tree Hill and starting over was hard enough without the man who was supposed to be her father screaming at her.

"That's funny because I was under the impression that a parent wanted to… well you know maybe _be in their kids life_!"

Karen couldn't speak. The first meeting between father and daughter was going worse than she had imagined it could.

"Don't pretend like you understand what went on back then. If I had known Karen was having twins I would have come back and made things right."

"Whatever," Jessi scoffed, rolling her eyes. "A man who will stand here and claim innocence because he would willingly walk away from one child but not two isn't somebody I would want in my life and I sure as hell would never claim him as my father!"

Dan threw his hands in the air and left. There was no doubt in his mind that that girl was Lucas' twin sister after that. The resemblance in the way she talked to him was uncanny. He was sure that Karen and Lucas had told her all kinds of terrible things about him and that had sparked her immediate defense of her mother.

"This isn't over," he growled as he hit the gas pedal and sped away. "That's my kid too and Karen isn't going to keep her from me."

Back in the café Jessi turned to Karen with an apologetic expression. Although her words had been true and were spoken from the heart she regretted giving her birth mother a glimpse of her fierce temper.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"Oh Jessi," Karen choked out before hugging her daughter. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sorry you were put in that position."

"It's okay." Jessi replied while patting Karen's back. The two of them had already grown quite close in the short time she'd been there but it was still awkward for her. "He had no right to come in here like that."

"I know." Karen said as she wiped her eyes and began sweeping the floor. "And if you don't want anything to do with him you don't have to. Dan may think he's almighty but when it comes to protecting my children I'll tear him down."

"Well… I can kind of understand why he's so angry."

Karen looked up at her daughter's face with a confused expression. That one threw her off. One minute she was yelling at Dan and the next she was defending him.

"Don't get me wrong!" Jessi exclaimed when she realized how that sounded. "I don't blame you for what you did and it's his own fault he never knew about me. He lost the right to know anything about Lucas and me when he walked out on you. But… I just think the situation is more complicated than that. Now that he's had his blowing up moment he might come around and be a little more understanding."

Karen didn't know what to make of this. She was proud of her daughter for being so considerate of the situation after being yelled at by Dan but she also didn't believe that Dan would ever come around and be understanding. He had proven how ruthless and conniving he could be when he hired a woman to break Keith's heart, all because Keith had put further strain on an already crumbling marriage. Karen didn't want to even begin thinking about what scheme Dan would come up with to get revenge on her."

"Jessi there's nothing wrong with you wanting to get to know Dan. He _is_ your father and it's natural that you want him in your life but you have to be careful. You don't know Dan like I do and believe me when I say that he's capable of anything. He doesn't like it when people get the best of him."

"That may be true but…"

The lanky teen wandered over to a stool and dropped onto it. Starting her life over here was harder than she had expected and the issue with Dan was turning into a major roadblock. So many emotions were hitting her at once and she wasn't sure how to deal with them all.

"But what?" Karen asked. She set her hands on the counter to brace herself. After the confrontation with Dan her stress levels were spiked and she wasn't sure she was as prepared for the fallout as she had thought. Guilt was also coursing through her. Watching her daughter sit there, her chin resting in hand as she chewed her bottom lip, was almost too painful to bear. She knew that the confusion she saw in Jessi's eyes fell on her. It made her question ever second of the last seventeen years. Deciding to give the girl up for adoption had been extremely difficult but it had been done to protect her. Karen had truly believed it would allow both of her children to lead fuller, happier lives but now she knew in her heart that it had all been a mistake. As Jessi sat there trying to find a way to explain, Karen saw a glimpse of the pain her daughter had been through. The similarities to the look in Lucas' eyes when he was upset made a chill run down her spine.

"I understand that you're telling me these things about Dan to protect me," Jessi began. "But I can't help wonder if the way he hurt you isn't clouding your judgment."

Karen allowed the counter to support even more of her weight. "Why would you think that?" she asked as she tried to calm herself. She was terrified that she would say the wrong thing and push Jessi away.

"Well… when my parents got divorced my dad was always saying bad things about my mom. He told me a lot of stuff from her past that I didn't need to know and… he really messed with my head. I don't know if it was intentional but he pretty much destroyed my relationship with my mom. My dad said he just wanted me to have all the facts but I was only thirteen and it all just confused the hell out of me. He convinced me that she didn't care about me and after a while I started to hate her."

On the verge of tears, the guilt-ridden mother dropped her gaze to the counter. So much for sending her daughter to a stable, caring family.

"And it's not like she was the world's greatest mother. There was a lot of stuff she did wrong and she wasn't anywhere near as involved in my life as I wanted her to be, but she wasn't the horrible person my dad made her out to be. It was years before I realized what a narcissist he is and by then it was too late. My mom and I were slowly patching things up but…"

Jessi trailed off, not ready to go there yet. It was true that she was opening up about her life a lot more than was normal for her but the accident was still too much. Hoping that Karen would understand what she meant she sat in silence waiting for a response. After a while, when Karen remained quiet, she began to feel guilty.

"I'm not accusing you of doing that," she said in an apologetic tone. "It's just, back home I didn't have much of a relationship with either of my parents and… I just… I'm sorry," she finished.

Her daughter apologizing to her was too much. Tears started to fall and Karen rushed around the counter to sit next to Jessi.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she said in a choked up voice. "I can't even begin to imagine how confusing and scary this is for you. If anyone should be sorry, it's me for putting you through this."

Jessi shook her head as a pair of glistening tears rolled down her flushed cheeks. "I don't blame you for giving me up. I just… I don't know how to make sense of all this."

Karen pulled her daughter into a tight hug as the troubled teen began to cry.

**Author's Note****:** Thanks for reading. Let me know what you thought.


	9. Chapter 8: Tears Don't Fall

**Author's Note****:** I should probably warn that there is implied F/F pairing in this chapter. If that offends you turn back now.

**Disclaimer****:** I don't own One Tree Hill. I only own my original character.

**Chapter 8: Tears Don't Fall**

"…and then I bawled my eyes out for like ten minutes."

"Wow."

Jessi shrugged and moved her arms behind her head. The fact that she was laying so close to Peyton entered her mind but she pushed the thought away. The two had developed a strong friendship in a very short time and she wasn't going to let her fantasies get in the way of that.

"What happened after that?"

"I kinda bolted. I just don't know anymore."

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked. She watched her new friend stare at the ceiling knowing that if she waited an answer would come.

"I thought I was ready for this. I thought I could handle it."

"Jessi…"

"It's just confusing as hell."

Peyton nodded and returned her own gaze to the ceiling. They had been lying there for over an hour talking.

"You've been through a lot lately."

Jessi realized she was doing a bad job of explaining herself. "That's not what I mean. I'm talking about Karen. I'm not used to feeling like I have a mom," she said, lowering her arms and playing with the studs on her belt, a habit she had when she was nervous.

That was a feeling that Peyton understood all too well. She had lived without a mother since she was eight.

"And it's hard to admit I can't do it all on my own. That's how it's always been. My parents were too busy with their own bullshit to be there for me and my sister so I had to be the strong one and take care of her. Most of the time I didn't have any real friends and I couldn't exactly lean on my little sister for support. I guess… I'm afraid to need Karen to be a mom to me."

A mixture of confusing feelings floated through Peyton's mind. For the longest time she had been drowning in her own pain, unable to focus on anything else, and she hadn't given much thought to her social life other than Lucas. He was such a good friend that she didn't think she needed anyone else other than Brooke. Between the two of them she had everything she needed, or so she thought. She wasn't sure why but whenever she was with Jessi she felt happier. It was like the island she felt trapped on finally had another occupant. There was someone else who understood the things she was struggling with. What confused her even more was how quickly their friendship had formed. Her 'everybody leaves' mantra usually made it hard for her to get close to people but with Jessi she couldn't help it. Already she was hoping that this new person in her life _wouldn't_ leave.

Unable to think of anything to say Peyton simply reached out and slipped her hand in Jessi's. The taller of the two closed her eyes and returned the gentle squeeze. When her eyes opened they were brimming with tears. Peyton was filled with a desire to hold her and tell her it would all but okay but before she could even process the fact that she was thinking that Jessi stood up quickly wiped her eyes.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"You don't have to apologize." Peyton replied, sitting up.

"Thanks for listening to me ramble on."

Jessi turned around and gave Peyton a smile but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Peyton knew she was just covering.

"Why do you do that?" she asked. Jessi raised an eyebrow questioningly. "You always act like the stuff you're going through is no big deal. I listened to you because I care."

"Oh."

This time Jessi's smile was genuine. Peyton understood her better than anyone she had ever met. Sometimes she couldn't believe they hadn't even known each other a month.

"Thanks."

Peyton stood up and hugged Jessi. They pulled apart after a few moments but still remained close. Jessi's heart began to beat faster and she could almost swear that the distance between them was slowly closing. Then, suddenly realizing what she was about to do, she stepped back and shoved her hands in the front pockets of her jeans.

"Well I should probably head home. Otherwise Brooke might show up and get all territorial again."

Peyton rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. She loved her best friend but sometimes she wanted to smack her. Brooke had been quick to notice the budding friendship between Jessi and herself and had also made it clear she wasn't going to allow anyone to interfere with their friendship.

"Sorry about that. Brooke is just… well she's Brooke."

"It's okay. I can't blame her for being overprotective."

_Dumbass!_ Jessi mentally yelled at herself. _What is with you today? Stop making yourself so transparent_.

Deciding it was time to get out of there before she further embarrassed herself she mentioned how late it was and that Karen was probably worried. Once she said goodbye and began walking home she pondered her feelings toward the blonde artist. She knew she was starting to like Peyton in a more than friends way and that troubled her. Three weeks ago she had been afraid she wouldn't be able to make any friends at all and already she was falling for someone.

"This is crazy," she said aloud. "I'm not screwing up another friendship."

When she finally walked into her house she saw that it was Lucas, not Karen, who was waiting up for her.

"Hey," she said in a tired voice as she sat down at the kitchen table.

"Hey. Mom told me about what happened earlier."

"Yeah um, I'm sorry I took off like that. How upset is she?"

Lucas shook his head. "She's just worried. In more ways than one."

"I'm not used to that."

"Used to what?"

"Having a mother worrying about me. And Karen is really doing a great job at it. I guess maybe I'm just not sure I know how to be a good daughter. I've screwed it up pretty badly so far."

"Hey, remember what I said. Clean slate." Lucas replied. "And nobody expects you to have everything figured out."

Jessi shrugged and rubbed her eyes. It was after midnight and they had school in the morning.

"I didn't think it would be this hard," she said softly.

"Are we treating you that bad?" Lucas joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"What?" Jessi asked, her head snapping up. "That's not what I mean. I just… never thought I would like it here so much. I feel guilty for not missing my old home like I thought I would."

Lucas smiled. He couldn't help admitting to himself that he liked having his sister around and didn't want her to leave. It was a possibility, he knew, that Jessi could decide to move back up north to her adopted family. Karen wouldn't stand in her way if she chose to go back to her old life.

"That doesn't mean you love your family any less. They'll always be your family and I'm sure you'll be going to visit them before you know it."

Jessi understood the double meaning in her brother's words and she appreciated it. She knew the ghosts of her past would probably always haunt her but she was starting to believe that she could truly make a home in Tree Hill.

"So have you decided what to do about Dan?"

"No." Jessi replied sullenly. "Every time I think I have it figured out I change my mind. I mean it's clear the guy is an ass but… doesn't everybody deserve a second chance?"

"Well…"

"See why I'm so conflicted?" the younger twin asked after her brother lapsed into silence.

"Yeah. But I also think that for someone to get a second chance they have to believe they did something wrong. It's ultimately up to you but if you let Dan in your life I think you'll eventually regret it. And I also think you should ask yourself if he wants to be in your life because he cares about you or because he wants to win, to be the one in control."

Lucas left his sister to ponder his words. As Jessi got ready for bed she thought about her first meeting with dear old dad. She knew that all of the things Lucas and Karen had told her were true. Indeed her first meeting with Dan had not been a pleasant one but she couldn't shake the thought that if she didn't take the chance to get to know him she would later wish she had.

"Maybe I need to talk to Nathan about it," she said to herself as she crawled into bed. "After all he grew up with Dan. He might be able to give me a better perspective on who Dan Scott really is."

**Author's Note**: Hope you enjoyed. Feel free to leave a review. I'm always open to constructive criticism.


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